I began serious refreshment of my rye and one of my white SD starters on Thursday, and Friday morning mixed up some pre-ferments. We're traveling to see family at the end of the week, and I like to bring frozen loaves as gifties. I also wanted to play around some more with herbed loaves made into rings. The rye pre-ferment, made up only of rye flour, was also laced with caraway seeds.

The Jewish style rye is about 35% rye flour, 30% clear flour and 35% AP. There is a splat of olive oil, a squirt of honey, a bit of vital wheat gluten, pinch of ascorbic acid, some salt and enough water to make a tacky-stick-to-your-fingers-if-you-touch-it dough. Mixed in the Electrolux for 5 minutes after autolyze, stretched and folded a few times, then retarded in the fridge overnight. Removed from the fridge early in the morning, allowed to warm up for a hour or two, scaled, proofed, slashed, baked on a pre-heated stone at 450 F, then painted with a "cooked" cornstarch and water mixture.

The herbed rings were made from a basic AP 65% hydration sourdough, with the addition of olive oil to tenderize the crumb. Mixed and partially kneaded in the Electrolux, stretched and folded a few times, then retarded in the fridge overnight. Removed from the fridge in the morning, allowed to warm up for a hour or two, then I did the following:

Each ring was made of up two, 1 lb pieces of dough. Each 1 lb piece was rolled into a rectangle, brushed lightly with olive oil, then various combinations of the following were put on:

Thai fried shallots
Chopped garlic
Penzey's dried Italian herb mixture
Za'atar
Salt
Pepper
Grated Manchego
Rosemary (fresh)
Thyme (fresh)

Each rectangle was then rolled tightly into a coil. Two coils were intertwined and linked together. The rings were allowed to proof, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, then baked at 375 F on a heated stone.

More photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25648800@N04/sets/72157615947969429/

Boron